2023: Yiaga Africa Partners UNDP to Promote Youth Participation in Politics
- Ahead of the 2023 general elections, Yiaga Africa is collaborating with its partners to ensure youths participate in the electoral process
- The non-profit civic hub with support from UNDP Nigeria collaborated with ace comedian, Chucks D General in an outreach to NYSC camp, Abuja
- The initiative focuses on using the platform of entertainment to promote the importance of youth participation in the electoral process
PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed!
Kubwa - In a bid to mobilise over 60 million young Nigerians to vote in the 2023 general elections, Yiaga Africa and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Saturday, August 6 organised a concert at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp, Kubwa Abuja.
The event which was held in partnership with a comedian, Chukwuyem Israel, was aimed at using the platform of entertainment to promote the importance of youth participation in the electoral process.
Source: Twitter
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the event, a senior research officer at Yiaga Africa, Michael Agada, said the concert is geared towards educating NYSC members on the imperativeness to participate actively in the democratic process ahead of the 2023 polls.
His words:
PAY ATTENTION: Subscribe to Digital Talk newsletter to receive must-know business stories and succeed BIG!
“What we aim to achieve is that we want to see 60 per cent of youths come out and vote in the 2023 elections.
“Right now, we are talking to the NYSC management because we know that some of them (corps members) are going to be used as presiding officers on election days.
“Part of the reasons we have low turnout on election days is because people do not have confidence in the electoral process.
“We want to tell the youth corps members that some of them are going to be used as ad hoc staff and they need to show integrity and be accountable so that the results can count from the polling units.”
On his part, Chucks De General said the youths have the numbers to decided who emerges their leaders at various levels of government.
He also noted that entertainment is the best way to reach out to young Nigerians.
His words:
“We have come to a point where we realised that entertainment has become the best way to communicate to young people.
“So, when you come and say something on TV or radio and you didn’t mix it with some things they are used to, they may hear and understand, I respect that, but they may not get it exactly the way you wanted them to get it.
“So, Yiaga and I partnered on this project, to use entertainment to communicate the same communication that we have been trying to communicate before.
“So, we’re just trying to assist INEC to communicate their message. The message for this particular episode is that we need everyone to go and pick up their PVCs.
“When it’s time to vote, we need everyone to come out and vote. I read the statistics of the last election, and I realised that we were about 40/50million youths who would preside over 200 million people. People are not coming out. I am praying for about 80%.”
The highlights of the event were performances from popular Nigerian comedians Efe Warri Boy and Josh 2 Funny.
2023: Yiaga Africa collaborates with OXFAM Nigeria under #RunToWinNG project
Recall that Yiaga Africa in a similar collaboration with OXFAM Nigeria under the #RunToWinNG project held a convergence of youths to sensitize them on the values of electoral and political participation recently.
At the event, youths were tasked to use their potential for their gains and participate in the electoral process.
According to Yiaga, the whole idea of the #RunToWin festival was to provide support to younger people to contest and win elections and also inspire younger people to register and vote in the forthcoming election.
Arm yourselves with knowledge of Electoral Act, Constitution, Yiaga Africa tells CSOs
Meanwhile, Yiaga Africa has called on the leadership of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and media in Osun state to arm themselves with the knowledge of the Electoral Act of 2022 and the Nigerian constitution in order to engage citizens from an informed perspective.
Board member, Ezenwa Nwagwu said this on Thursday, August 4 in Osogbo, during a post-election debrief with the leadership of CSOs and media in the state.
According to Ezenwa, the post-election meeting is to examine how stakeholders can improve in future elections.
Source: Legit.ng
